Production process of light amount adjustment member, light amount adjustment member, light amount adjustment device and photographing apparatus

Abstract

A production process of a light amount adjustment member, by which a light amount adjustment member that can sufficiently satisfy optical properties can be economically produced at low production cost and high yield by a simple operation is provided. In addition, a wide variety of light amount adjustment devices and photographing apparatus equipped with a light amount adjustment member are cheaply provided while achieving satisfactory optical properties. The production process of the light amount adjustment member comprises the step of applying a coloring liquid containing a coloring material to a transparent base material using a liquid jet recording process to form a light amount adjustment region having a particular optical density.

1. A process for producing a light amount adjustment member, the process comprising:
 applying a plurality of coloring liquids each containing at least a transparent resin and a coloring material on to a transparent base material by means of a liquid jet recording process; and 
 curing the transparent resin to form a light amount adjustment region having a density distribution that varies continuously or stepwise, 
 wherein the densities of the plurality of coloring liquids differ from each other stepwise. 
 
     
     
       2. The production process according to  claim 1 , which further comprises the step of providing a transparent flattening layer on the surface of the light amount adjustment region after the step of forming the light amount adjustment region. 
     
     
       3. The production process according to  claim 1 , which further comprises the step of polishing the surface of the light amount adjustment region after the step of forming the light amount adjustment region. 
     
     
       4. The production process according to  claim 1 , wherein the coloring liquid is applied in such a manner that the area of one dot of the coloring liquid formed by applying the coloring liquid on to the layer amounts to at most a twentieth of the area of the light amount adjustment region.